What a difference a year makes?

[Lmk92]

Last year, I attended a BUNCH of demo days, looking for the perfect pair of skis. I loved none of them, and finally settled on Volkl Aurenas. We're breaking up now. The problem, I think, is that they are too soft and too light. I think I need a slightly stiffer and heavier ski to boost my confidence.

The problem is that most of the skis I tried last year simply seemed to be too much ski for me, and I had a bit of trouble completely controlling them. When I hit a pile of slush or powder, most of them completely bounced around. I was truly afraid of tearing something...like a ligament.

I attended my first demo day of the year yesterday, and had NO problem with any of the skis I tried. It was a very warm day in PA (this was at Blue Mountain), with quite a bit of slush, which was pretty deep in some areas.

What could be the difference? I fell in love with the Blizzard Quattro 8.0 ti. I tried it in the two sizes they had - 156 and 162, settling on the 156 (although I would not have been disappointed in the 162s). I'm so nervous now that it was the conditions that actually helped me yesterday, and that when I take them out next week, I'll find that I can't handle them at all.

Think I'm just looking for something to worry about? Or should I have held up on ordering until I could try them in proper conditions?

 

[marzNC]

Would help to have a little more context about your ski experience so far. How many ski days have you had on the Aurenas? In general, are you skiing harder terrain compared to a year ago? How long are the Aurenas? What is your height/weight?

Given that you like a Volkl, doesn't surprise me that you liked the Quattro 8.0 Ti. I demo'd a Quattro during early season at Sunday River. Snow was quite soft that day.

What is another ski that you tried that your liked?

The snow conditions when you demo certainly make a difference. However, it's unlikely that you would be terribly unhappy in more normal weather.

 

[Lmk92]

I'm 5'2, 160 lbs. I probably skied on the Aurenas 20 days. I actually just switched back to my daughter's Atomic Affinity Airs, which are a heavier ski, but they're 2012's and they have a distinct wobble in them, especially at high speeds. I am skiing harder terrain, and I'm skiing the blues a lot faster now. But I do still occasionally freeze on some black diamonds sometimes. It's not that I can't ski them - I freeze on hills at times that I flew down 20 minutes beforehand. I just seem to get into my own head and nothing I do seems to settle my anxiety. My kids tell me I need to start skiing with a flask, lol.

I actually liked every ski I tried, which is also strange, since I liked none of them last year. The Atomic Vantage series stood out as favorites, particularly the 77 cti.

I really hope that I'm worrying for nothing and that I'll get them out and have just as much fun on corduroy as I did in the slush.

 

[marzNC]

Well, in your other thread you mentioned not liking the Temptation 80 or 84. That makes perfect sense to me given your stats and what skis you did like.

Clearly you have become a solid intermediate. Good for you! That means more skis will work well. Also means that finding a ski for OSQ (One Ski Quiver) is much more likely because your technique is solid enough to handle different types of snow conditions. At least I found that as I improved, I felt less need to change skis. My Black Pearls weren't ideal for mid-Atlantic groomers or firm northeast groomers or deep powder, but they weren't that bad either. That said, I got the Absolut Joy in a slightly short length for mid-Atlantic skiing or the occasional foray in the northeast.

 

[Lmk92]

Thanks, @marzNC. I hope I'm just jittery for no real reason. We'll find out for sure in a few days.

 

[Jilly]

You buy the one that makes you smile....that's all!!

 

[Lmk92]

You buy the one that makes you smile....that's all!!

Great advice! I'm just hoping I'm still smiling Monday...

 

[Skier31]

There are so many ski choices. Perfect can be the enemy of good enough. Once you find a ski, treat yourself to a lesson or two. That may make a huge difference.

 

[Obrules15]

There are so many ski choices. Perfect can be the enemy of good enough. Once you find a ski, treat yourself to a lesson or two. That may make a huge difference.

"The enemy of good is better, the enemy of better is best"

Last year, I attended a BUNCH of demo days, looking for the perfect pair of skis. I loved none of them, and finally settled on Volkl Aurenas. We're breaking up now. The problem, I think, is that they are too soft and too light. I think I need a slightly stiffer and heavier ski to boost my confidence.

It sounds to me like you are having trouble accepting the fact that you are a much better skier now than you were last year. Warm and slushy are not good ski conditions. The snow is heavier and more difficult to deal with. If you were unhappy on higher level skis in moderately wet conditions last year, these conditions wouldn't help the situation. So it is extraordinarily unlikely that you can handle these skis in poor conditions but be unable to in hero snow.

It sounds like the Aurenas did their job, they helped you ski enough to advance your skills to the next level. Now it's time to let them go and get your first set of big girl skis

Good Luck!

 

[W8N2SKI]

What a difference a year makes, eh? I was "meh" about my Head Total Joy's last year and this year I've loved them. Good for you for experimenting and questioning. All my life I've had a OSQ and now I'm in expansion mode. I bought a beater pair of used Temptation 88's to do bumps this year. Hate them. HATE them. Much to my surprise, the Joy's have proven a joy in learning bumps. Still, I'm going to demo whenever I can just to expand my universe. I hope you have as much fun sampling the wares as I have!

 

[Lmk92]

There are so many ski choices. Perfect can be the enemy of good enough. Once you find a ski, treat yourself to a lesson or two. That may make a huge difference.

Yes! I'm definitely planning to do this.

 

[Lmk92]

"The enemy of good is better, the enemy of better is best"



It sounds to me like you are having trouble accepting the fact that you are a much better skier now than you were last year. Warm and slushy are not good ski conditions. The snow is heavier and more difficult to deal with. If you were unhappy on higher level skis in moderately wet conditions last year, these conditions wouldn't help the situation. So it is extraordinarily unlikely that you can handle these skis in poor conditions but be unable to in hero snow.

It sounds like the Aurenas did their job, they helped you ski enough to advance your skills to the next level. Now it's time to let them go and get your first set of big girl skis

Good Luck!

I'm definitely suspicious of the leaps and bounds I've seem to have made. But you make a good point - those Aurenas sure have been good to me!

 

[Lmk92]

What a difference a year makes, eh? I was "meh" about my Head Total Joy's last year and this year I've loved them. Good for you for experimenting and questioning. All my life I've had a OSQ and now I'm in expansion mode. I bought a beater pair of used Temptation 88's to do bumps this year. Hate them. HATE them. Much to my surprise, the Joy's have proven a joy in learning bumps. Still, I'm going to demo whenever I can just to expand my universe. I hope you have as much fun sampling the wares as I have!

I'm so glad to hear that I'm not the only one who didn't fall in love with the Temptations. They get such great reviews, and I see so many on the mountains, I was feeling kind of bad.

I only had the one day, but I'm planning to keep sampling because it is so much fun!